Happy Talk Band
Low Shoulder
*** out of *****
Happy Talk Band is Luke Spurr Allen- guitar and singing, Steve Calandra- electric and acoustic bass and singing, Jeff Massey- drums and singing, Alex McMurray- guitar and singing and other stuff with various others helping along the way.
The opening "Hold It On" is a twangy country outing that is easy rolling with organ accents and Allen's direct vocals coloring the sound. He is the band's focal point and manages to cram extra words/phrases into "Dog Year" which pops along on snapping fingers and acoustic strums while "Gideon Bible" is a searching for salvation tale which builds excellently with snapping percussion, piano, and the dark humor of a protagonist a the end of their rope.
Two of the standout tracks here are "Bucket of Water" and "The Truth Won't Set You Free". The light hearted rollicking music of "Bucket of Water" masks much more sobering lyrics as the world is burning on a local scale with Ani DiFranco providing backing lyrics. The slow building "The Truth Won't Set You Free" is a deep poetic examination from Allen as the band gorgeously swells in more roots rock fashion on the excellent offering.
Staying in a rock vein, with ominous nightmarish overtones, is "Dennis Fonataine" which feels out of place on the easier flowing album while the sweet Americana of "For So Long" puts things back in line. "End of the End of the World" is waltzing with lots of "La La La's" from Allen and horn work from Mark Levron while "United" is a tight test of strength in a marriage as the country ode uses drums to shuffle as love ends.
The album closes with the slow building title track which deals with life, death, and love as Happy Talk Band's Low Shoulder closes on a contemplative note. An engaging mix of heartache and country tales Allen and company deliver the complicated twangy goods.
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